A township government in northeastern China’s Liaoning province has been blacklisted after the government failed to pay off 37 million yuan ($5.6 million) debt in 13 years.

The Changdian township government in Liaoning signed a contract with a local businessman Zhou Shengxi to allow Zhou to buy a government-owned factory in 1997.

According to Zhou, the contract said he should pay the township government 2.2 million yuan for the factory with 6 million yuan credit and 6 million yuan debt, but he later found that the debt owed to the factory has been paid off but the debt the factory owed to others remained, The Beijing News reported.

Zhou then began to sue the Changdian government in 2001. After several rounds of trials, the high court of Liaoning ruled in 2003 that the Changdian government should pay Zhou compensation of 2.47 million yuan along with related interests and overdue liabilities since 1997, the newspaper noted.

Based on the ruling in 2003, the total payment to Zhou has exceeded 37 million yuan as of May.

However, the payment has never been delivered since the judgment, as the Changdian government argued that it has no capabilities to pay for Zhou.

In June, the intermediate court of Dandong announced to blacklist the Changdian township government. According to Zhou’s lawyer, the Supreme People’s Court has stipulated that blacklisted debtors should be restricted from traveling, accommodation and the purchase of automobiles, which the lawyer suggested to be imposed on the township government officials as well.